Birth Date: 10/27/1926
Deceased Date: 06/05/2017
Mary Eleanor Pender Mitchiner died peacefully June 5, 2017. A memorial service will be held Wednesday, June 7 at 2:00 PM at St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Smithfield. The family will receive guests in Lawrence Hall afterwards. Private burial to follow. A visitation will be held Tuesday evening from 5 until 7 PM at the home of Mike and Neppie Stevens, 1109 Baker St., Smithfield, NC 27577.
Eleanor was born October 27, 1926 to Evelyn Laughinghouse Pender and Howard Thurston Pender. She was raised in Fayetteville, N.C. Eleanor graduated from Fayetteville Senior High School in the class of 1944 where she was voted “Most Popular”. She attended Women’s College in Greensboro, N.C. Eleanor married Wylie Jones Mitchiner and they spent many happy years in the Mitchiner home place in Wilson’s Mills, N.C. Foremost in Eleanor’s life were her three girls. She enjoyed being a Girl Scout leader, a PTA officer, and the chaperone of choice for countless trips to the beach and Beech Mountain. After all, she would let the house party of thirteen girls all share one bottle of champagne! As a member of Smithfield First Baptist Church, she taught Sunday School and was a Circle leader. Eleanor also served her community as a founder of the Pink Ladies at Johnston Memorial Hospital and was a volunteer with Crisis Line. She later joined St. Paul’s Episcopal Church where she served on the Altar Guild, the Flower Guild, the Hospitality Committee, and attended bible study. Eleanor loved flowers and served as District President of the North Carolina Garden Club Council, Trial and Error Garden Club, and the Smithfield Garden Club. “Gran” also loved to cook and would start working on Thanksgiving lunch in August. Her recipe file, “Gran’s Fine Food”, remains a staple in her family’s kitchens. She and Wylie loved to dance and were members of The Johnston County Cotillion.
She is predeceased by her parents and her husband, Wylie Jones Mitchiner, sister Alyce Pender Olive, and brother Carlton Gray Pender. She is survived by daughters Evelyn Pender Mitchiner, Ann Mitchiner Davenport, and Neppie Mitchiner Stevens and devoted sons in law, Pete Davenport, and Mike Stevens. Her grandchildren include Pender Davenport Hollmeyer and husband John, Preston Ernest Davenport, Jr. and wife Weezie, Eleanor Stevens Webb and husband Ben, and Michael Sloan Stevens, Jr. and wife Kelsey. She was blessed with eight great grandchildren, Jack, Harris, and Hill Hollmeyer, Pete, IV and Spicer Davenport, Kate and Eve Webb, and Trey Stevens. She is also survived by her sister, Ann Snyder.
Special thanks go to her many devoted friends, the caregivers at a Brookdale Senior Living, Springbrook Center, and Gretchen Kopp. In lieu of flowers, please send memorials to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 218 South Second Street, Smithfield, N.C. 27577, or the charity of your choice.
